Green Infrastructure for Clean Water: 

The Essential Role of Soil 

Thursday September 13, 2012

8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum 

Soil is our foundation, and an essential component of green infrastructure in stormwater management.  It provides structure beneath our feet, stores nutrients for plant growth, filters contaminants from runoff, and regulates the movement of water. The 2012 Clean Water Summit will focus on the concept of ‘living’ soil, how it functions, and the connection between healthy soil and clean water in our communities. Featured presentations will address policies and practices related to soil, from a landscape scale to an individual site, and motivate participants to protect our soil systems, rejuvenate disturbed soil, and use soil effectively for stormwater management.

The purpose of the Summit is for participants to:

• Understand what ‘living’ soil is, how it functions, and the connection between healthy soil and clean water
• Present current technical practices and policies related to preserving and regenerating  soils
• Motivate participants to 1) protect soil systems, 2) rejuvenate disturbed soils, and 3) use soils effectively for stormwater management

The Clean Water Summit will bring together a wide variety of individuals involved in stormwater management, community development and redevelopment, municipal operations, and design professionals.  Participants may include municipal stormwater managers, policy makers, planners, and staff, soil and water professionals including designers, engineers, contractors and installers, developers, landscape architects, and many others.

AGENDA

Keynote 1:
Soils and the Water Connection
Presenter: BILL HUNT, Ph.D. - Associate Professor and Extension Specialist, North Carolina State University

Keynote 2:
Soils 101 - Healthy, Living Soils
Presenter: CARL ROSEN, Ph.D. - Professor and Chair, Dept. of Soil, Water and Climate, University of Minnesota

Keynote 3:
A Potential Future: Soils and Urban Agriculture as a Driver for Green Infrastructure
Presenters: TIM KENNY, M.S. - University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, and LaDONNA REDMOND - Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy

Choose your concurrent session preference when you register.

Concurrent Session 2:
Track A - Soil: A Filter Beneath Your Feet
Track B - Urban Soil: Contamination and Compaction